Page 103 of Make it a Double

“Hold out your hand, girl,” Grams said softly. Sawyer did as she was told, her jaw slack as her grandma deposited the jewelry into her waiting palms. “Now, my daddy gave this to my momma on the day I was born. They didn’t have much, but he saved up to make sure she knew how proud he was of her. And when I told them I was pregnant, they gave it down to me. Told me to always remember what was important in life.” Sawyer stepped toward her grandma when her voice wavered. “I tried to do the same with your momma, but that didn’t work out too well, so we’re trying this again.”

“Grams, no…”

Sawyer tried to hand it back, but she refused. “You are going to be a damn good momma. I’m honored to be the one to give this to you.” From what I could tell, it was a simple heart locket. Well worn and well loved. “I put a picture of myself in there for when you miss me, though.”

Sawyer laughed, wiping away a quick tear. “Please tell me you’re not wearing this shirt.”

“‘Course not, baby.” Grams patted her cheek. “I have my Team Charlie shirt on. Figured you’d like that one best.”

“Like the dad from that vampire movie?” I asked. “Why?”

They both gave me a strange look, turning toward the door instead of answering me. Duke and Grady looked up as we wandered out onto the porch, and I gave them a nod. Smiling, they moved past me to load more boxes into the truck.

“Alright, get outta here. Let the boys work.” She grabbed one of the patio chairs, dusted it off, and plopped down just as Lukas stepped out of the cab. “I’ll just be right here.”

“Doing what?” Sawyer asked.

Grams winked and leaned back, propping her legs on an overturned planting pot. “Supervising.”

SAWYER

“Okay, this looks so much better than I thought it would,” Beckett said, stepping back to examine our handiwork. We’d been here a large portion of the day, carefully turning the space into the perfect room for our son. It’d taken a lot more than I anticipated. At one point, just over halfway through, I wasn’t sure we’d ever reach a finish line, but I was still glad we’d done it ourselves.

Beckett brought his shirt up to wipe away the sweat along his forehead. He said something as he did it, but I was too distracted by the sight of his abs to pay attention. It’d been happening all day, not that I was complaining.

Thank god he hadn’t insisted on painting shirtless, though. We wouldn’t have gotten anything accomplished.

I turned in a circle, following his gaze before settling in front of the large window overlooking the front lawn. Music filtered through Beckett’s phone, playing softly in the background. None of this felt real yet. I was still struggling to come to terms with the fact that I lived here now. This place was so much more than anything I could’ve dreamt up, and it wasn’t just Beckett’s, but mine and our son’s as well.

After months of tears and apologies, we were finally going to be a family.

Beckett came up behind me and slipped his hands beneath my belly to offer support. I groaned, leaning back into his chest. There were streaks of green all over our clothes, and probably our skin, too, but I didn’t care.

Here, with him, in our freshly painted nursery, this was the happiest I’d ever been. Ever since he’d shown me the house, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the life we could build here. It was the perfect beginning to our forever.

He tucked his chin in the crook of my neck, pressing a kiss to my exposed shoulder as he whispered, “How are you feeling, baby?”

“I’m tired,” I admitted. Today had taken a lot out of me. We’d been on our feet since six in the morning, and now the sun was going down. “But I’m happy.”

Beckett’s smile curled against my cheek. “Me too. I had more fun than I thought I would, but I think that’s just the company.” He squeezed me carefully. “Thank you for talking me into this.”

“Thank you for going along with it.” I shrugged. It was a silly thing I couldn’t let go of after seeing it in a movie once. The parents had looked so happy and in love, and that was what I hoped for our own son.

“You don’t have to explain yourself to me. I’d do whatever you wanted just to see you smile.” He kissed my cheek and slowly let go of my stomach. “But let’s get you home so I can take care of you, hm?”

“You always take care of me,” I said, rolling my eyes. It wasn’t even just about the sex—which I was absolutely loving, by the way—but how he doted on me every second of the day. Foot rubs, belly massages, food cravings… Whatever I wanted, Beckett dropped everything to keep me comfortable.

He reached for his phone to cut off the music, but then he stopped and looked at me. I was beginning to get concerned before he held out his hand and said, “Dance with me.”

“What?” I asked, glancing down at his open palm and laughing nervously. “Why?”

There were many things I wasn’t good at. One of them was dancing. I was a wallflower at school dances growing up. No matter how hard I tried, rhythm eluded me completely. Duke had once spent a solid hour trying to teach me a simple two-step. Needless to say, it hadn’t ended well. I’d stepped on his toes so many times that I was sure I’d caused some permanent damage, but Olivia had gotten more than a good chuckle out of watching the whole debacle.

“Why not?” Beckett shrugged, a playful smirk on his lips. “Come on. Indulge me.”

The song playing was a slower country ballad. It was perfect to sway back and forth, which was great, considering that was all I trusted myself to do. “I don’t think you realize how much of a danger I am to myself and others when I dance.”

“Please,” he begged, giving me the most pathetic puppy-dog eyes I’d ever seen. God help me if our son inherited that ability. They’d both get away with anything they wanted.